Egyptian-Emirati consortium secures land for Dakhla Oasis solar project: A consortium of Infinity Power, Hassan Allam Utilities, and the UAE’s Masdar secured a 20 sq km land plot in New Valley Governorate’s Dakhla Oasis for their 900 MW solar power plant and its accompanying battery storage, a source at Hassan Allam Utilities confirmed to EnterpriseAM. The news was first picked up by AlArabiya.

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ICYMI- The cabinet in November greenlit two power purchase agreements between the consortium and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) for two solar projects — a 300 MW facility paired with 60 MWh of battery storage at the giant Benban plant and a second solar project in the Dakhla Oasis with a capacity of 900 MW and 660 MWh of battery storage. It was reported shortly after that the trio would soon launch a tender for a contractor to carry out the projects, which had initially been slated to break ground in December.

The price tag: The trio’s planned 1.2 GW worth of solar projects in the Dakhla Oasis and Benban will have a total price tag of around USD 1 bn, the source confirmed to EnterpriseAM.

The projects could be up and running this year: The New Valley facility is slated for completion in 2H 2025, and the Benban facility should be completed before the end of the year. We previously heard that the projects would begin feeding the national grid by the end of 2H 2026.

The consortium has a lot in the pipeline: The trio is currently working to set up a USD 11 bn,10 GW wind farm in Sohag that is set to be one of the largest wind farms globally and the largest in Africa. Masdar is also working with Infinity and the EETC to construct a 200 MW wind farm in Ras Ghareb. The Egyptian-Emirati consortium, along with global energy giant BP, will also set up a USD 15 bn green hydrogen project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

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